


If the Fates Allow

by Amarei



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Beautiful Golden Fools, F/M, Gen, Modern Westeros, The Lannisters (tm) - Freeform, and it's a sin and a shame, but there's a real lack of actual j/c content in this tag, golden twins, jaimsei, lannister holiday fics warm the spirit, rating will change as they get older, since I never finish anything, wanted to wait to post, way too many of them to list and y'all know it's true, will also add additional character and relationship tags too
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-09
Updated: 2019-12-08
Packaged: 2021-02-26 03:27:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,583
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21726772
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amarei/pseuds/Amarei
Summary: Twenty years, twenty Winter Festivals. Life changes with time, as do the Lannister siblings, but some things will always remain constant.
Relationships: Cersei Lannister/Jaime Lannister
Comments: 9
Kudos: 26





	If the Fates Allow

**Author's Note:**

> So, I had the genius idea to try and write a series of holiday ficlets at around 1am late last week, and this is the beginning result. I didn't want to hold off like I usually (always?) do in sharing things because I'm not finished them though, because it's December now, and I wanted to at least share this cute little one-shot with y'all while the holiday feels are still abound. Hope you all enjoy!

The blue glare from the tv wouldn't have bothered Jaime as much if they’d been watching the game. King's Landing was playing Starfall, and it was bad enough that his father had broken yet another promise to take him (on account of spending _family time_ with people he didn't even like no less), but his cousins were hogging the remote, and since they were _guests_ , there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it.

All of the bedrooms were now filled with foreign occupants, because _important_ work had kept Tywin Lannister in King's Landing for the holidays, and his wife had suggested that everyone else move coasts to bring the Winter Festival celebrations to him. Everyone but Uncle Tyg had taken up the invitation, and because the townhouse Jaime’s immediate family lived in while his father worked in the capital was less than half the size of their family estate back west, displacements had to be made. 

Uncle Kevan and his new wife were in the spare room, while Uncle Gerion slept on the trundle in Tyrion's. Aunt Genna and Uncle Em were given Jaime's room with baby Tion, while Jaime was told to sleep in the den with his two older cousins on the large pullout couch. Somehow, Cersei had managed to keep her room for herself, one more thing he could add to the list of things that weren't fair on this stupid holiday’s eve.

"Ooo-ooh! Would you look at her?" Lyonel was so close to the screen his forehead was almost touching it, "She fine as _hells_ bro!"

They were watching music videos, and the same one had come up in the rotation three times in the last hour. It was a song that Jaime thought he'd liked yesterday, but now? He'd be happy to never hear Tom O' Sevens’ trash flow ever again, and with the way that he'd been feeling of late, the last thing he'd wanted to see was booty shorts and ass cheeks. There was way too much of that in this house already.

"Yo, back _up_. You're gonna mess up your eyes," Cleos, Lyonel's older brother warned.

_He should know_ , Jaime thought, looking at his cousin’s thick lensed glasses. Ignoring his brother, Lyonel kept glaring at the screen, a wide grin plastered on his face as he watched the dancers move. "I bet you _that_ one’s from Lannisport," he said to no one in particular.

"Why you say that?" Cleos asked.

"Because, _all_ the finest girls come from Lannisport, everybody knows that, duh." his brother shot back.

"What would you know about where the finest girls come from? You don't even know any girls!"

"I know more than you, _four-eyes_. How are you a whole sixteen years old and never had a girlfriend? You probably never even kissed one!"

Cleos sucked his teeth, "What?! I have so! What are you talking about?"

"Mom don't count, weirdo."

"Nah, man, that's not cool. Jaime, don't even listen to him, he has no idea what he's talking about. I get plenty of girls!"

Truth be told, Jaime had stopped listening the minute they'd started going on about girls from Lannisport. His cousins had perfected the art of arguing and had done it for as long as Jaime could remember. At thirteen, Lyonel was the younger of the two, the same age as Jaime, but that didn't stop him from verbally demolishing his brother every chance he got. It was much easier to tune them out and think about the only girl from Lannisport that mattered. The only girl anywhere that mattered. 

It took Lyonel waving his hand in front of his eyes for Jaime to snap out of his daydream, and it was a good thing too, lately his thoughts had been wandering to places he tried so hard not to go to, no matter how right they felt in his head. Anyway, he was still mad at her.

"Coz, what you think?" Lyonel was looking at him with that stupid face of his, and Jaime had absolutely no idea what he was supposed to think about what. _I think I want to watch Dayne and Starfall crush the Dragons_ , he thought of saying before wearily answering with, "Think about what?"

"Which girls are the finest?"

_They're still on that?_ He shrugged, "I don't know. There's pretty girls everywhere I guess."

"Not pretty, man, _fine_. Like, duh, there's cute girls all over Westeros, but I'm just sayin', the Westerlands has _the_ best ones."

"I mean, I guess..." Jaime agreed of course, but saying so could incriminate him. It was best to stay neutral.

Jaime was slipping again when Cleos decided to chime in, "You've never been anywhere but there and the Riverlands though Leo, and Westeros isn't even the only place in the world, you can't just make ignorant statements like that. Tell him Jaime."

They always did this, threw him into the middle of whatever quarrel they were having, as if he cared about or even heard half of what they were whining over. If Cersei were here, they could shut the both of them down together, but she'd left him to fend for himself with these idiots, while she lay in the comfort of her own quiet space, without him.

"Honestly," he treaded carefully, "I just think that whatever you like, you like, you know? Like, you can't really help it anyway, so it's kinda whatever right?" 

"Ok, but like, which ones kiss the best?" Lyonel was relentless and Jaime was tired.

"For somebody who says he knows a lot about girls, you sure ask a lot of questions, Coz." Jaime watched as the smiled faded from his cousin's face. 

The boy sucked his teeth and shot back, "Nah, I was just asking _you_ , Coz. I already told you what I thought, _you're_ the one being weird about it. Like, have you ever even _kissed_ a girl?"

He had, of course, more times than he'd ever admit and less than he'd have liked to be true. It was fine when they were seven and playing dress-up, when he would bring her fake flowers, back to their fake home after his fake job, and she would giggle when she pecked his lips in thanks. Now she seemed to get angry any time he got too close, even for a hug or a kiss on the cheek. She said that it wasn't appropriate anymore and that if their parents saw them, if anyone saw them, they'd be in a world of trouble and as mad as it made him, he knew she was right. Then again, she usually was.

"What do _you_ think?" was all he offered in response, while finally reaching for the remote. Lyonel held it out of his reach, "That's not a real answer, Coz."

"Yo man, you play too much. Give it to me. _Now._ "

"Ooooh you _mad_ ," the pug-face boy teased, "just answer the question Jaim. It's either a yes or a no."

"I'm 'bout to yes or no _you_ stupid!" And with that, Jaime lunged off the couch to wrestle his cousin, while Cleos sat off to the side, whispering protests to stop.

"What are y'all down here fighting for?" The voice was coming from the stairs at the den's entryway and was a familiar to Jaime as his own. With one last slam of his cousin's shoulders into the floor, he got up and turned to face his sister.

"Why are _you_ down here? Your room not comfortable enough for you _princess_?" There was venom in his tone that he hadn't meant, but Cersei narrowed her eyes at him all the same.

" _No_ ," she said, matter of fact, "it's been taken over and I can't sleep."

"That's a shame, it really is, but it's kinda crowded down her-" She cut him off mid-sentence and went to push Cleos' legs out of the way of her preferred spot on the couch. Glaring at her oldest cousin she growled, "Your mom snores like a fuckin' bear," and Cleos burst out laughing.

" _Ah_ , she must've ditched dad then. They never sleep in the same room at home, guess she waited 'til Uncle Ty was asleep to give up the act."

"Well, she could've literally done that _anywhere_ but my room. And _then_ she had the nerve to try and squeeze into my bed next to me! Like, woman, how many people do you think this is made for?!" 

"You literally have a queen-sized bed, Cers," Jaime couldn't help but laugh at her irritation. 

"Yea, well, she needs _two_!" Her arms were crossed over her chest and she was like to flatten her lips with how hard she was pursing them. Even in the darkness, he could see the burning green of her eyes and not even the frown on her face could take away from how pretty they were.

"Did you just come down here to yell?" Lyonel asked, still on the floor.

"It's _my_ house, squatter, I can talk as loud as I want to. Speaking of loud, why were y'all fighting? Acting like a bunch of dumbasses, rollin' around on the floor, I _swear_."

"Why you curse so much now? Uncle Ty and Aunt Janna know what a potty mouth their daughter is?"

She rolled her eyes, "Where you think I learned it from _stupid_? _Anyway_...Jaime, what were y'all fighting about?"

He shrugged his shoulders and moved to sit on the floor just beneath her feet, "Nothin', we were just playin' around. It's not that deep."

Before his sister could challenge his answer, Lyonel spoke again, laughing, "He's _lying_! He's all mad because he's never kissed a girl and I called him out for it."

"Shut! _Up_!" Jaime kicked at his cousin, his voice cracking as he yelled. Cersei reached down and held his shoulders, calming him from bounding onto Lyonel for the second time that night. He heeded her silent advice and turned his head upward to look at her, leaning onto her leg was he spoke, "See what I mean? He don't even know what he's talking about..." 

His twin smiled down at him, smoothing her hand over his close cropped curls, "He really doesn't huh?"

"Uh-oh. Here they go with that weird cryptic twin speak shit," Lyonel sat up, "how would _you_ know Cers? What, do you watch him all day like a widdle baby? Y'all are weird."

Cersei softly pushed Jaime’s head up so that she could sit closer to the edge of the couch, then she looked their cousin straight in the eyes. For a moment, Jaime was afraid she was going to confess. 

"What's _weird_ is you worrying about his business, while you over there getting hype over videos like you never seen a real girl that close up in your life," she spat, "and I _know_ that my brother is literally the coolest boy in our entire school and every single girl there stays in his face, all day every day, which is something _your_ little dusty ass knows nothing about, obviously."

Cleos fell on the floor laughing, "She _got_ you bro! Chopped you _all_ the way up! Nice work little Coz!"

Jaime watched Lyonel's face redden as he processed the blow Cersei had just dealt him. Nothing had felt so satisfying all day. 

The younger brother went to stand, his hands balled into fists at his side, "You _wack_ Jaime! You wack, and you got your sister to lie for you, _and_ y'all weirdos probably only kiss each other!"

"C'mon Leo, why would you say something like that?" Cleos had some weight in his voice for once.

"Because it's probably _true_ , look at them! How is _he_ the coolest dude in his school when Aunt Janna told mom he can barely even _read_?!"

This time it was Cersei who got up and stood chest to chest with their aggressor, "You right."

Jaime couldn't believe what he'd just heard, and judging by the way Lyonel's face changed as he stared up at his slightly taller cousin, he hadn't either, " _What_?"

She smirked, "I _said_ , you're right. He can barely read. But that's not his fault, and it still doesn't make him as corny as you. I bet you _twenty dragons_ that you're the one who's never kissed anybody before."

"And how would you even prove that dummy?" He countered.

"Easy," she said as she pointed to the corner of the room, "there's some mistletoe over by the little tree. Kiss _me_ and I'll know it."

" _What?!_ " he nearly screamed, "I'm not doing that!"

"I mean, you wanna prove it, right? Plus, it's an easy twenty! What's the big deal? It's just a stupid kiss..."

Lyonel's face reddened even more, but Jaime guessed it was less in anger now and more in embarrassment, "I don't have to prove anything to you!"

"Ok, then I'm just gonna have to assume that yo-"

" _I'll_ take the bet," Jaime broke in.

" _What?_ " Both Cersei and Lyonel said in unison.

"The bet," he shrugged, "I'll take it. I could use twenty d's."

"But, she's your _sister_..." Lyonel said wrinkling up his face.

Jaime shrugged again, "So. It's just a little kiss, and if you won't take the money, I will."

"Jaime, wait, we ca-" Cersei started, before he took hold of her hand and led her over to the smaller version of the larger Winterfest Tree in the great room that the entire family helped decorate earlier in the evening. It was trimmed in crimson and gold, the colors of their family crest, and the lights that twinkled around it were as white as the snow falling just outside the window. 

For a moment they just stood under the hanging garland of mistletoe, looking nervously at each other and thoughts raced through Jaime's head, unable to land on what the correct next action should be. He ultimately decided to go with his instincts, so with a smile, he placed both hands on her face and leaned in to kiss her lips softly. He almost broke away, when he felt her hands reach up to pull the back of his head in for a deeper one, and for a moment he'd forgotten there were other people in the room. 

When she finally let go, she grinned up at him and hit him on the arm, "You almost messed up my hair boy!" 

"Yea, well, nobody told you to wear all these rollers to bed! You’re trying to be grown like mom," he laughed, "oh, and I'll take my money _cash_ by the way."

" _Ewww_. Y'all are some real weirdos yo!" Lyonel complained from under the bed of blankets he'd made on the floor.

Cleos was shaking his head too, "I seriously can't believe y'all just did that."

"Why? You gonna snitch?" Cersei asked him pointedly.

"No. I'm just saying, y'all are wild Coz. That's all."

"Good, because you know what they say about snitches," she told him, moving towards the couch, "now move, I'm sleeping on this end."

Jaime brought over blankets and gave Cersei his pillow to sleep on, while he lay in between her and Cleos. The next morning, he woke up to the sound of the rest of the Lannisters in the great room, ready to open the gifts The Father had left them overnight. Cersei was still sound asleep, softly holding onto his hand, and as he watched her, he thanked The Father above for giving him the only thing he'd asked for that year.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank y'all for reading, I hope to have 2000's chapter up soon, it's a Cersei PoV and those are always fun :D


End file.
